Transcript The Civil rights Movement

THE
VIETNAM
WAR
American commander in South Vietnam who told people in the media that the United States was close to winning the war, even though it wasn’t
Key figures in the Vietnam War
Ho Chi Minh
William Westmoreland
President of North American commander
Vietnam who led
in Vietnam who told
the efforts to defeat American people that
South Vietnam,
we were close to
hero to most
winning the war, even
Vietnamese
though we weren’t
Lyndon B. Johnson
President during
much of Vietnam
War; greatly
escalated the U.S.
soldier involvement
in the conflict
Key figures in the Vietnam War
Robert McNamara
Richard Nixon
U.S. Secretary of
Defense during the
Vietnam War who
made the American
public feel like we
were winning the war
President of the
United States
during the latter
part of the
Vietnam War
Ngo Dinh Diem
President of South
Vietnam who whose
corruption and
harsh standards led
numerous people to
turn to the Vietcong
Vietnam in the ’50s
Following World War II, the
French controlled southeast
Asia (known as Indochina)
Ho Chi Minh led a revolt
against the French to gain
independence for Vietnam
By 1954, the French fell to the
Vietminh and they withdrew
from Indochina, leaving
Vietnam a divided country
Southeast Asia (aka: French Indochina)
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory was the belief that if
one country fell to communism, the other
Southeast Asian nations would eventually
fall to communism as well
This map from an American
magazine published 14th
November 1950 shows how
much they feared the
spread of Communism in
the Far East.
South Vietnam problems
The people of South Vietnam hated
South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh
Diem. He was corrupt and did not
govern in the best interest of the citizens.
A Buddhist monk commits suicide in protest to the
harsh policies of the S. Vietnamese government
Diem was disliked because
he discriminated against the
Buddhist population
Some Buddhist monks
protested Diem’s rule by
setting themselves on fire
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
In August of 1964, Pres. Johnson
announced that North Vietnam
ships had fired on two American
destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin
USS Maddox
Johnson insisted that the
North Vietnamese attack
was unprovoked and
responded by ordering
American airplanes to attack
North Vietnam
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
After accusing N.
Vietnam of attacking the
U.S., Johnson asked
Congress to give him the
authorization to use force
to defend American forces
When, in August of
1964, Congress passed
the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, Congress
handed over war
powers to the president
The President had the power to
send U.S. troops into battle
without a declaration of war
Operation Rolling Thunder
The U.S. bombing campaign
conducted against the North
Vietnam from 1965 until 1968
Operation
became most
intense
air/ground battle
waged during
the Cold War
The three-year assault was
intended to get North
Vietnam to stop supporting
South Vietnamese guerrillas
Vietcong
Guerrilla army based in
South Vietnam (also
known as the NLF) that
fought the U.S. and South
Vietnamese governments
during the Vietnam War
The Vietcong were South
Vietnamese communists
who fought for Vietnamese
unification on the side of the
North Vietnamese
Vietcong Advantages
 They were familiar with
the landscape (rivers,
lakes, etc.)
 They could find a safe
haven in Cambodia,
Laos or South Vietnam
 They could often count
on the support of the
local population